Traditional Easter egg hunt taken to 'The Next Level'

NEWINGTON—The Next Level Church added a new twist to the traditional Easter Egg Hunt by dropping plastic eggs out of helicopters in three different locations on Sunday.

At the Rye Airfield in North Hampton on Easter afternoon, hundreds of children looked up in amazement as a helicopter hovered over a grassy field and dropped hundreds of eggs at a time in a designated area.

As it was time for various age groups of children to go out in the field and pick their eggs, the helicopter came back several times, and dropped more and more colorful plastic eggs for the children to hunt.

Roman Archer, pastor at Newington's Next Level Church, said during the third annual Helicopter Egg Drop on Sunday, it was the first time that eggs were dropped at three different locations at the same time.

"We were looking for a new twist to add to the Easter Egg Hunt," said Archer.

Besides Newington, Next Level Church also has locations in Portland, Maine, and Denvers, Mass., which just opened Sunday. Archer said the church is also hoping to add two more locations in New England this year.

Five-year-old Mikey Spaulding, of New Hampton, said in addition to getting a toy truck and other goodies inside his eggs, he got a plastic coin for being extra courteous to other children in the field during the egg hunt.

"I liked that I got that coin and that truck," said Mikey, who was accompanied at the event by his two siblings, 10-month-old Lucas Spaulding and 10-year-old Brycen Snipes.

Their mother, Kristie Spaulding, said she brought her children to the egg drop for the first time this year because it would be a fun experience.

"They liked seeing all the eggs being dropped," said Spaulding.

She said that with bounce houses being located next to where the eggs were dropped, her children were being entertained while waiting for their turn to hunt eggs.

After gathering the eggs dropped by the helicopter, five-year-old Summer Brown, of South Berwick, was sitting at a picnic table with her family, opening the plastic eggs one by one and organizing the toys found inside.

Summer, who got small eraser, a top, and a wrist game with her eggs, said she liked seeing the helicopter fly out to the field to drop the eggs off.

"My favorite part was getting eggs," said three-year-old Karmin Kendrick, of Exeter, who got small cars and many toy frogs inside his plastic eggs.

His mother, Angel Newcomb, said she was having a good time watching her son collect the eggs on the grassy field.

"It was cute, it was funny," said Newcomb.

Newcomb, who has attended Next Level Church twice so far, said she enjoys the atmosphere of the church, and the environment that does not feel forceful.

"They are just really fun people there," she said.

Newcomb brought Karmin to the helicopter egg drop before bringing him to his grandparents' house for Easter baskets and Easter dinner.

Archer said that experience at the Next Level Church, which opened in Newington about four years ago, is a bit different from some other churches. He said that he would like people to remember their church experiences as being happy and positive, and that the mission of the Next Level Church is to love people far from God.

Looking around the Rye Airfield, Archer noted that people who attend the church events tend to be younger, and more diverse -- something that may not be typical in other churches.

Archer said that the Helicopter Egg Drop on Sunday drew in approximately 300 children.

In order to participate in the event, residents were required to partake in the Next Level Church service on Sunday morning. At the end of service, those in attendance were given an admission wrist band and directions to the secret egg drop-off location.

Archer said that the requirement to attend the church service first was to be able to control the crowds; during the event two years ago, he said, 12,000 people came to the Egg Drop because the event was open to everyone.

Newington's Next Level Church currently has about 1,000 members, said Archer, and the Danvers, Mass. location officially launched Sunday with an estimated 300 members.